Fierce Defiance
by Interchangeable Dissonance
Summary: When Colonel Mustang is ordered to chose another person for his team, he chooses a problem instead. Fem!Ed, Fem!Al, Parental!Roy, Parental!Riza, mentions of abuse
1. Chapter 1: Meet the Team

**This is my first ever fanfiction, so I'm just testing out what things do. **

**Plot: Roy's team has been assigned to pick a new team member, so what happens when turns out that their pick is an 11-year-old (turning 12 on February 3) with a metal arm and attitude? **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, Ed would be a girl, and she'd be the Empress of Xerxes.**

* * *

Roy's POV:

February 1st

11:45 AM

Central, Fuhrer's Office

"Colonel, I will give you a week, no more, no less, to find another alchemist skilled enough to become a State Alchemist, or I will assign one you one. I took it upon myself to find some for you. Now go and decide with you team who you want."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Riza's POV:

February 1st

4:49 PM

Central, Roy's Office

"Have you all decided which one you want to look into?" Roy asked his crew.

"Yes, sir." The rest of them smiled.

"Tara Narmolanya!" Havoc yelled.

"What?" Breda asked.

"That's who I chose!" he grinned back.

"Look, Havoc, you only chose her for her breasts." Roy said, not impressed.

"Yup! Breda next!" Havoc smirked.

"I think…maybe this Izumi Curtis?" Breda muttered.

"Really? Fuery next."

"Firana Caswyntha. Riza?"

"Ed Elric. Roy?"

"Falman and I both agree with you, Riza. But is that really his name?"

"Looks like it. But is it male or female?" Breda asked, looking over the sheet. "Oh well, let's figure out when we go to collect him."

"Yes, sir."' Roy said sarcastically.

* * *

Roy's POV:

February 2nd

8:00 AM

Resembool

Here we are, in front of Ed Elric's house. The file said that he was 30 with no living relatives. A perfect choice. I walked to the door and knocked. A man in his 50s came to answer the door.

"Hello, are you Ed Elric?" I asked him.

"No, there's no Ed Elric in this house." he said.

"Could we come in?" Riza, ever tactful, asked.

"Um, no, sorry. I was just about to head out to work."

"Oh, okay." Breda said, giving the impression of a depressed child.

"Watch out for him." he murmured. I did a mental facepalm.

"So, you can go now!" he snapped.

"One second," I said. "I never got your name."

"I'm Gildis Hawthorne." he snarled. "Now go."

"Bye!" we all called.

"Get into the car and drive around the block." I said. "Then get out."

We snuck around the grass. Just then, we heard the sound of glass breaking, and a child's scream.

Riza ran out with arms outstretched under a shadow. The shadow dropped into her arms, and it was a child, who couldn't have been older than 10! The child looked scared half-to-death. He had dirty blonde hair and dull gold eyes. His skin was unnaturally pale and he was shaking.

"Al!" another voice yelled down. I looked up. A boy with gold hair and eyes was looking down from the broken window. Highlighted against the sun as he was, he looked like an angel. Albeit a very dirty angel, but an angel nonetheless. Then he ducked and a fist sped through the window, quickly followed by a body. The body of Gildis Hawthorne.

"Hey! Is Al okay?" broke through the silence. We all looked up at him. The boy swung his leg around the side of the window, and we got a better look at him. He was wearing a turtleneck, gloves, sweatpants, and boots. He swung his foot down onto the next window's ledge, and dropped to the ground. He started to run towards us, but then grew pale and started to shake. Only then did I realize that I had no idea where Hawthorne was, and judging from the looks on the other's faces, they did too.

Then we felt the alchemy.

* * *

Ed's POV:

February 2nd

8:4 AM

Resembool

Okay, what's happening? Al and I were going around like normal, avoiding Mr. Hawthorne. Then we heard knocking and talking outside, then the door slammed and Mr. Hawthorne came upstairs to punish us (albeit earlier than usual), so there wasn't enough time to push Al out of the way. He went right out the window. I swear my heart stopped. Luckily, those odd uniform-wearing people were down there in time to catch him. Mr. Hawthorne all but completely threw himself out the window. I jumped down and Mr. Hawthorne crept around them, created an alchemy circle and transmuted the air around the stranger's hands and legs into chains to bind them.

"So, it was you the entire time, was it not?" Mr. H. screamed into Al's face, growing redder by the second. He picked Al up and threw him over by me. Me, being the older one, naturally stepped in front of Al.

* * *

Roy's POV:

February 2nd

8:50 AM

The older kid threw himself in front of Al. He had a look of fierce defiance on his face. The younger one just seemed scared.

* * *

Ed's POV:

Like hell I'm going to let Al get hurt again! I just need to keep Al away now. Mr. H. snarled and jumped forward.

Damn, he's fast!

*insert epic fight scene* (A/N: this is my first time trying something like this, bear with me.)

I ducked away from his fist and tried to punch him in the stomach. He caught my fist and pulled it up near his shoulder, in which I promptly kicked him in the crotch. I could hear the strange men in front of me gasp and wince in pain. While Mr. H. was doubled over, I tried to yank his arms away from his chest and move around him, but apparently that's what he was planning for me to do. When I was by his hip, he spun around and grabbed me by the neck with a knife.

* * *

Roy's POV:

February 2nd

9:00 AM

Resembool

The fight ended before it really started. The kid did well, but Hawthorne had probably trained for years. He now had the kid's arms behind his back with a knife to his throat. And looking back at things, I'd guess the boy was Ed. Hawthorne quickly snapped Ed on the back of the neck, and he fell unconscious.

Soon we all were.

(A/N: I have no idea about the neck-makes-people-unconscious thing, so don't try this at home!)

* * *

Ed's POV:

February 2

?

?

_"Ed!" I hear my name and jerk my head up. In front of me is that monster that Winter, Al, and I created. I see Truth's wide grin as the doors close in on me. I hear crying, and I realize I'm missing an arm, Winter is missing one of his ribs, and Al's missing his leg knee-down. I see Al, crouching by the side, crying. I see my mother, perfect again. I see her shift into the monster she looked like. _

_ "You couldn't save her!" pain exploded in my ribs._

_ "You should have been the one to die!" Pain in my left leg, in my head, in my knees, in my wrist. I see his face. Gildis Hawthorne. The man who stayed behind to pick up the pieces after Dad left. The man who made Al's life hell. Yeah, he was fine when Mom was still alive. He was fine before she died. But after that, he started drinking. All hopes that he would comfort Al went out the window. He never left the house and eventually forces us to stop leaving as well. He burned anything he could find that suggested Mom was dead. He thought that she left us like Dad did, and that we were to blame. It started one day, after school: I was late to come home one day and he snapped. When I arrived, he had Al pinned against a wall with a fist drawn back. I pushed Al out of the way and took the blow myself. It seemed to go on forever. When it ended, there wasn't a part of me that didn't hurt. _

_ "You shouldn't have been bon this way! You shouldn't have been born…"_

"A GIRL!" a voice broke through my consciousness. It sounded like it was underwater.

"Yes, Mr. Mustang. We're both girls." Wait, was that Al? I saw a blob of skin and yellow.

"Sister's waking up!" Yeah, that's Al. I groaned and lifted my hands up to my eyes. Pain began to flare in my left shoulder so I left it down. I blinked a couple times and I realized we were in a cage.


	2. Chapter 2: A Complete Circle

**I am trash. I should've updated this at least a week ago. **

**Disclaimer: I may be female, but there's no way I own FMA. Like at all. **

* * *

Roy's POV:

February 2nd

3:07 PM

?

Good, the girl's awake. That still came as a shock. Who would have thought our candidate for State Alchemist was an 11-year-old girl with a metal arm? No one in their right mind would. Anyways, while Ed was asleep, and we were unconscious, the man brought us to a small dungeon-looking basement. It was dimly lighted by a few 17th Century torches. The air was dank and dusty, and it was what woke my team up in the first place. Whoops, the girl's talking.

"Where…where are we?" she asked, looking up at Alphonsia, her younger sister. They were 11 and 10, but they would've easily passed as 6 and 7.

"We don't know yet." Riza replied in that emotionless tone of hers, looking down at the sisters. Alphonsia brushed her light brown hair out of her eyes.

"What-" Edeline started to say, before coughing into her hand. When she came up for breath, she stared in shock at her hand. It was coated in a dark red fluid.

"Shit! Internal bleeding! Make her sit up!" I yelled, placing her head right below mine, my arms lightly strung around her stomach. Riza reached over and gently pushed her bangs out of her face.

"What are we supposed to do now?"

* * *

Gildis's POV:

February 2nd

3:07 PM

?

What is that disgusting noise from downstairs? _**It's most likely just in your head, just like us. **_Their scratchy voices echo in my head, cackling. **  
**

"Shut up! I'm not letting you out again!" I hiss at myself. _Oh god. Now I sound crazy._

You see, many people may not understand, but I have Multiple Personality Disorder. My other personalities think of themselves as Greed, Wrath, and Envy. It, no they, always came out when I see the little adorable children that my beloved Trisha had with her horrible husband. My disorder started in high school, when everyone acted like I had a disease, when they had everything I had nothing. That's when Envy made his appearance. He's the oldest and the most volatile. The next one was Greed, a selfish bastard, and after Trisha died, Wrath. Now I hope that they haven't done anything stupid to my little children. Where are they, anyway? I decide to look around the house. Walking up the steps to the second story, I notice a draft of sharp wind that wasn't there before. Running now, I screech around the corner and...

_Shit. The window's broken. _

* * *

Roy's POV:

February 2nd

3:20 PM

?

I believe that we have finally gotten the most of the bleeding stopped. Alphonsia looks rather shaken up (this is her older and stronger sister, after all) but otherwise she's holding up fine. Riza and Havoc are working on calming down the hyperventilating Edeline, who apparently has severe claustrophobia. Riza looks up at me, blood splattered across her jacket.

"What do we do now, sir?" she asks quietly to not disturb Ed. I look at the two children and my subordinates...no, my friends. I'm forced to sigh as I collect my thoughts.

"Look for a way out, but if you hear anything moving close come back. If he's talking, listen as much as you can. We need to know as much as possible about this place and who he is."

"I'm going to help." Ed sat up, looking at me fiercely. "I'm not going to be that stereotypical egotistical girl who's forced to sit around waiting for someone to eventually save her. I'm going with you to help." She turned her pleading eyes to Riza. "Please. I need something to distract myself from this hellhole."

Riza and I exchange looks.

"Okay, just this once. But if you start coughing again, you're coming straight back."

* * *

Ed's POV:

February 2nd

3:45 PM

?

_If you start coughing again, you're coming straight back. _Heh, like hell I am, I just got out! And with it came with some odd sort of detachment from this world I live in. _At least Al will be safe with the others._.. I get so distracted from the world around me that I run into Mustang. He looks worriedly back at me, and I smile at him... or it was more like a grimace...

"Are you okay?" he whispers to me, staring into your eyes. He's actually worried, I realize.

"Uh...yeah I'm fine," I sniff back, looking in the opposite direction, trying to seem fully awake. _Ugh._ Who am I kidding! This would have to be one of the most unluckiest days I've ever had!

He looks at me closely, and puts his right hand on my head. "You're warmer than you were earlier. We'll go back soon." _Ergh._ Stupid headache. Stupid people. But most of all, stupid me. I should've watched Al more closely that day. I knew she was up to something! And then she went and sent in an application without me even knowing!

Two flicks to my forehead. I stare at Mustang again. He eye-smiles at me. "You were spacing out." I could practically hear his grin in his stupid voice!

"_Shut up!_" I hiss in his face. Footsteps. My head jerks up, holding a hand out in front of Mustang. He looks at me suspiciously, making me roll my eyes and quietly explain what I heard. _Oh._ His mouth curves downward.

The footsteps directly above us.

It's time to wait.

* * *

Roy's POV:

February 2nd

3:51 PM

?

While waiting out the man above us, _Gildis Hawthorne, _my mind provides, I look over the girl. Does she know she's shaking? Either way, it looks more like out of anticipation than anxiety. And dammit, she has a vocabulary! She probably doesn't even realize the whole reason that I asked if she was okay was because she was swearing like a sailor, maybe worse!

The footsteps move forward another three feet. _Has...always...there? _filtered through the wood. A crack of light opened up to reveal a trapdoor-like contraption, with a shadow over it. _Shit. Hawthorne. _

He's looks down at us, confused. "What are you two doing down here?" Both of our heads just snap up at his face. He swings his head down over with his arm outstretched as to help us up. Ed takes over.

* * *

Ed's POV:

February 2nd

4:00 PM

?

Damn, that felt good. Punching someone in the face has never brought me such satisfaction before. I move out of the way while he collapses down the shaft, groaning. I look back at Mustang, grinning in what I think is an evil manner. _Hehehe_...It worked. He looks truly unnerved.

"Um... How about we talk about this with the rest, eh?" he says, still eyeing me strangely. _Oh._ Now that the adrenaline has worn off, I feel like otter shit. Utter shit. _Hehehe..._ shit.

We move back to the others. They all notice the _Man _as soon as we walk in. "Uhh, what did you do? I thought we weren't going to kill him?" Fuery asks, confused.

"Oh, we didn't! Just gave him an early nap!" With a groan, I nearly collapse on my legs to regain a normal sitting position. Riza looks at me. "We're getting you to a hospital as soon as possible." Nodding in confirmation (or was it in exhaustion?) I lay my head down on Al's lap. _Ahh...the warmth of a normal human who won't try to kill you..._My eyes rebel as I slowly get back to sleep.

* * *

Ed's POV:

February 8th

11:00 AM

Military HQ

Standing in front of what will be my first job, my stomach's surprisingly tight with nerves. Now that I'm in better shape than before, Riza and Mustang asked _cordially_ if I'd like to join them. They explained (well, we already knew) about everything I'd be expected to do. This is my official first day. Al and I agreed that she'd be allowed to come along with me on my travels...After all, I've always been a free spirit and I shouldn't be forced to stay in one place for long. Another major change:

Riza and Mustang have become our...sponsors, I guess. Mustang's the one we'll be living with, Riza's officially in charge of our health. She's our guardian until all of the Hawthorne business smooths over. Mustang has indirectly took on the "older brother to make fun of" and "father to make fun of" at the same time. Al walks up behind me.

"So, sister, ready to go?" She asks, placing a delicate arm on mine. I give my most feral smirk.

"Never been more."

So together we held our breath, and took the first step into the building, towards our new life.

* * *

**Welp, I think I'll end it there. I had a literal no inspiration over school, and it's ironic that the day before my next first day of school is when I finally got the inspiration to finish this! Anyway, I finally got inspiration so...here's the end results! I've always had a problem trying to explain myself on paper so this is a start. All I could think about while writing the "Ed punches adopted father in the face" scene was, "Ed punches her adopted father, and he falls down the shaft and breaks his neck and all other explanations weren't needed." Either way, I want to try my shot at a "read about the characters reading about themselves" fic but I never new which one I should do. I just started reading the Lorien Legacies series so I may do that one; but I may do a Naruto, a Maze Runner, or a different series fic as well! Bye for now!**

**Did I do the second and final part justice? I feel like I didn't... **

**But then again, my entire outline for this chapter was literally: "They find a way out, Hawthorne goes to jail, Riza and Roy take custody of the kids, end of story"...**


End file.
